http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/22/AR2008022202 734.html
WASHINGTON POST (USA) LETTERS Kosovo and the Rule of Law Saturday, February 23, 2008; A14 The Post contended that Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence this week was "inevitable and long overdue" [editorial, Feb. 18]. If these are the criteria for independence, then they set a dangerous precedent for other nations, like Spain and Cyprus, that do not assent to the secessionist aspirations of ethnic minorities. The danger is that unilateral declarations of independence disregard the sanctity of existing sovereign borders and, more fundamentally, the rule of law. A former American Bar Association president, William T. Gossett, warned in 1969 that "the rule of law can be wiped out in one misguided, however well-intentioned, generation." Will it be ours? JAMES L. MARKETOS Washington
